FIG. 1 depicts a portion of a conventional energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer 10. The conventional EAMR transducer 10 is used in writing to recording media 30. To do so, the conventional EAMR transducer 10 receives light, or energy, from a conventional laser (not shown in FIG. 1). Also shown is grating 20. The conventional EAMR transducer 10 includes a conventional waveguide 12, conventional pole 14, and a conventional near-field transducer (NFT) 16. Also shown is a laser spot 22 on the gratings 20. Other components that may be part of the conventional EAMR transducer 10 are not shown.
In operation, the light from the spot 22 on the grating 20 is coupled to the conventional waveguide 12. The conventional waveguide 12 guides the light to the conventional NFT 16 near the air-bearing surface (ABS). The conventional NFT 16 focuses the energy from the waveguide 12 to an optical spot 32 on the media 30. A small region of the conventional media 30 is heated by the spot 32. This region becomes more magnetically soft. The conventional EAMR transducer 10 magnetically writes data to the heated region of the recording media by energizing the conventional pole 14.
Although the conventional EAMR transducer 10 may function, there are drawbacks. In order to reduce the track size, and thus increase density, the spot 32 size is decreased to prevent heating of adjacent tracks. Thus, the size of the conventional NFT 16 is desired to be small in order to limit the size of the spot 32. Further, the distances between the pole 14 and the conventional NFT 16 and between the conventional NFT 16 and the media 30 are desired to be carefully controlled. In addition, care must be taken in ensuring that the conventional pole 14 and conventional waveguide 12 are sufficiently separated that the magnetic field of the conventional pole 14 does not adversely affect the optical performance of the conventional waveguide 12. Fabrication of a conventional EAMR transducer 10 that takes these factors into consideration may be problematic.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving the fabrication of an EAMR transducer.